Awnings are generally known and are used to enlarge the living space of a camping accommodation, mostly a mobile camping accommodation, such as, for instance, a caravan, a camper (or motor home) and the like. Such an awning usually comprises, in addition to a roof, at least one side wall. Also, typically, a front wall is present and/or a canopy fixed to the awning, which extends beyond the side wall(s). Such awnings are often detachably fixed to a wall of the camping accommodation or the like by means of a so-called caravan rail. A caravan rail usually comprises a metal or possibly plastic profile, in which an edge of a tent cloth provided with a beading can be slid. A beading is a thickening sewn into a hem, for instance consisting of a cord, cable or the like, or an elongated bendable element of, for instance, metal or plastic.
A drawback of the known awnings is that they are difficult to fit. Sliding the beading into the caravan rail or the like is often laborious in that dirt and/or oxidation of the profile render(s) sliding more difficult. Also, the beading often slides extra heavily in the bent parts of the rail, because a bend in principle forms an extra resistance, which is often increased in that in the bend, the diameter of the opening in the rails exhibits deviations from the nominal dimensions.
In practice, the following operations need to be performed to fit an awning to a caravan or the like. When the caravan or the like has been placed at the desired spot, the awning is taken from the baggage room or other storage room and taken from a bag or cover. Then, the awning cloth is unfolded and the appropriate edges of the side wall(s) and the roof of the awning are fixed to the caravan or the like. This is usually done with the aid of a beading to be slid into a profile, as already described hereinabove. Sliding the beading into the profile becomes more difficult according as the beading is slid further into the profile, because the sliding resistance will increase and also because an increasingly larger part of the tent-cloth will be suspended on the profile and must also be pulled along.
When the cloth is completely fixed to the caravan or the like, the tent frame needs to be placed under the tent cloth then hanging down. For this purpose, the frame from tent poles or tubes or the like needs to be built up under the cloth, or to be (partly) pre-assembled and then placed under the cloth. These operations can hardly, if at all, be carried out by one person. When the cloth lies on the frame in the right manner, finally, the awning can be tensioned using ground pins or tent pegs and optionally guy ropes.